Lada may not be front runner but they still try their hardest
Seat
BMW
Chevrolet
Honda
Click a link to go directly to that story!
Seat
SEAT make clean sweep of the two front rows of the grid
An extraordinary teamwork allowed the SEAT Sport team making a clean sweep of the two front rows of the starting grid for the first of two World Touring Car Championship races to be staged tomorrow at the Italian racetrack in Monza. Yvan Muller, leader of the overall standings, clinched the pole position followed by Gabriele Tarquini, Jordi Gene and Rickard Rydell, thus turning the SEAT Leon TDI into the favourites for the victory.
From the first instants of the qualifying session, it was clear that the slipstreaming technique would be the key to clock the fastest times. The SEAT Sport team made an impeccable manoeuvre with three attempts. In the first one, Tarquini set the fastest time ahead of Alain Menu (Chevrolet) and Yvan Muller. Halfway the session, the drivers went onto the track together again and at the end of this attempt the order was Muller, Tarquini, Menu and Monteiro.
With two minutes to go, the SEAT Leon TDI went onto the track again, establishing the definitive starting order for the race, with Rydell and Gene improving their positions. The SEAT Sport drivers did not only make an excellent qualifying but also showed an excellent team spirit and the best mutual understanding, applying the instructions received from the pits to perfection, something fundamental to be able to carry out an essential manoeuvre at a racetrack like Monza.
The first WTCC race will be held tomorrow at noon, and SEAT might be able to make a significant step to strengthen their leadership in both standings of the championship.
Yvan Muller: "I'm happy because the flying start of the first race will allow us to keep the positions. We've been working very good to clinch the pole which some other times we had lost in the last minute. On the other hand, it is too early to think about the title. First we have to score points to secure the manufacturers' championship for SEAT".
Gabriele Tarquini: "It is always better to have the pole, but the front row is very important as well; I'll be surrounded by yellow cars and I like that. Tomorrow we have no other aim than scoring as many points as possible and the only valid strategy is getting the four SEAT over the first chicane cleanly to secure the result of the race".
Jordi Gene: "The teamwork has been really good and although it might seem the contrary, driving side by side with your team-mates is a huge responsibility to be able to make good use of the right moment to let each of the drivers clock their best time. In addition, my personal aim right now is not to set a certain time but to secure the best result for SEAT in the manufacturers' world championship".
BMW
Augusto Farfus finishes fifth for BMW in Monza qualifying session.
Monza, 4th October 2008. Augusto Farfus (BR) proved the fastest BMW national team driver in qualifying for the 19th round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship. At the "Autodromo Nazionale di Monza", the 25-year-old clocked the fifth-fastest lap time for BMW Team Germany with 2:00.039 minutes. Triple world champion, Andy Priaulx (GB), also qualified for a top-ten grid position at the 5.770- kilometre circuit: He finished eighth on the timesheets, 0.435 seconds behind Farfus. SEAT's Yvan Muller (FR) secured pole position, posting a best time of 1:59.213 minutes.
BMW Team Italy-Spain's driver pairing will start from rows six and seven on the grid for Sunday's first race. Felix Porteiro (ES) was 12th in qualifying, local hero Alessandro Zanardi (IT) took 14th. Farfus' team-mate, Jorg Muller (DE), had to make do with finishing 15th.
"I'm quite happy with this result," commented Farfus after the 30-minute session. "Maybe I could have gone a little faster. But still this would not have put me in a position to pressure the SEAT diesels. They were in a class of their own today. For tomorrow it's my goal to score as many points for BMW despite the fact on this track the cards don't play exactly into our hands."
The same goes for Priaulx, who was surprised by the big margin to the front-runners. "We knew SEAT would be strong here, but the size of the gap to them is pretty disappointing," said the Guernsey driver. "This track was always going to be a challenge so now I need to just work hard for the races as you never know what will happen."
With its ultra-long straights, the classic circuit in Monza's Royal Park once more saw the drivers going out in small groups so they could slipstream. "Unfortunately I couldn't make full use of this," said Muller. "Twice I was on a fast lap and got into traffic. If this happens the chance for a good time is gone."
Zanardi, however, was still hampered by the consequences of his accident in first free practice. He explained: "Following my crash in the morning, the team did a great job to get my car ready again. During the qualifying session, however, I felt that something was still wrong with the car. So I couldn't use the full potential of my BMW 320si WTCC. In view of this, the grid position is not too disappointing."
Race one at the "Autodromo Nazionale di Monza" will start on Sunday at 12:20hrs (11:20hrs BST), the second race will get underway at 15:50hrs (14:50hrs BST). The two rounds will be televised by Eurosport International. The races will also be streamed live on the internet, at www.bmw-motorsport.com.
Stats and results Monza:
Circuit / Date Autodromo Nazionale di Monza / 5th October 2008
Lap / Distance 5.770 km / 51.93 km (9 laps)
Pole position 2008 Yvan Muller (SEAT), 1:59.213 minutes
Winners 2007
Race 1: Yvan Muller (SEAT)
Race 2: Jordi Gene (SEAT)
Fastest laps 2007
Race 1: Jordi Gene (SEAT), 2:00.864 minutes
Race 2: James Thompson (Alfa Romeo), 2:01.055 minutes
Chevrolet
Three Works Lacettis In Top Nine; `Max' Orido Beats Fellow Countrymen
MONZA, 4th October 2008 As two weeks ago in Imola, qualifying was all about slipstreaming and getting tows at the very fast track of Monza, today. The three Chevrolet Lacettis ran as planned in train formation in order to give title chaser Rob Huff the best possible starting position, however traffic interfered with a potential time improvement on the last qualifying run. However, the three Lacettis will still start in what could be ideal positions for the second race. Japanese driver Manabu `Max' Orido, who is making his WTCC debut here in a Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden-run Lacetti, qualified in 20th, beating his two fellow countrymen in the process.
QUOTES
Nicola Larini (6th): "I think we did a good job, given the circumstances. We tried to help Rob as much as possible, and I don't think we could have done more. But today we all succumbed to yellow fever."
Alain Menu (7th): "I believe I could have done a 1m59s8, however on the last run our little train got stuck in traffic. I was up on my sector times, so a third position on the grid was definitely a possibility, but a few of the privateers tried to profit from our slipstreaming train and basically upset our last flying lap. We'll see what tomorrow brings."
Rob Huff (9th): "Being ninth is not too bad. I'm forty kilos heavier than Nic and Alain, which roughly translates to 0.4 seconds on this track, which is exactly the amount of time I loose compared to them, so the equation is correct. The extra weight really made the braking suffer, however, especially after the long straights where you really need an anchor. So tomorrow the mission will be to take as many points as possible."
Max Orido (20th): "I'm happy with the result. I decided to go at it alone in order to learn as much as possible about the car, the tyres and the overall handling. I could have taken a tow from another competitor but decided not to, as I want to learn as much as possible and get miles under my belt for my home race in three weeks' time."
Honda
N.Technology´s James Thompson has secured 13th place on the grid for tomorrow´s round 19 of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), held at the Autodromo di Monza, Italy. The Italian outfit´s second driver Yukinori Taniguchi, who made his WTCC debut today, will start tomorrow´s race in 26th position.
Thompson set a fastest lap of 2:00.688 on the Italian track, completing his best time in the dying seconds of the 30-minute qualifying session. The Honda Euro R Super 2000 is carrying 49kg of success ballast thanks to N.Technology´s win and third-place finish in Imola two weeks ago.
Japanese team-mate, Yukinori Taniguchi, who is joining the team for both the Monza and Okayama rounds, secured his 26th place start with a fastest lap of 2:04.435.
Thompson, who finished third with N.Technology in last year´s championship standings, is confident that tomorrow´s race situation will provide the conditions necessary to move up through the field.
Andrea Muller, Team manager
"Monza is a difficult track and with the success ballast, it was difficult to get a result as good as Imola. On a fast track like this, the larger teams will always be faster as they are able to take advantage of the slip-stream. We really pushed in the last five minutes and James was driving well for all of the session.
"Yukinori has done good for his first time in a highly-competitive championship like the WTCC. He did well and did not make a mistake throughout the session; we were realistic about where he would place. To come into the WTCC at Monza is not so easy; it is a fast track and only having 30 minutes to qualify during your first time means that it is tough to get a good time."
James Thompson, car number 15
"Qualifying was difficult for us as we had a lot of traffic for most of the session. We managed to get some good runs in the last ten minutes, but with the extra weight, we were just over two tenths of a second from qualifying in the
top-eight. The race will provide better conditions for us and I´m confident that we can move into a point-scoring position."
Yukinori Taniguchi, car number 72
"The session went so quickly; I wish I had 10 more laps! I was comfortable with the set-up and had a good feeling about the car. But I am still getting used to it and believe I can improve. N.Technology is a great team; they are so helpful and very comfortable to work with."
Hiro Toyoda, Vice-president, Mugen Euro Co. Limited
"Mugen wanted to get involved with the WTCC as it is a world championship and we always aim to compete in the top competitive level; that is where Mugen thrives. We hope to make the best of our knowledge and we are confident that we will move forwards."